Various types of liquids may be stored in containers, whether during production, processing, transportation, distribution, sale, or consumption. For example, during the production of wine, beer, or other types of alcohol and/or spirits, the liquid may be stored in a barrel for an extended period of time, which may range from several months to a number of years. During storage in the barrel, the liquid may undergo a process of fermentation, or aging, in preparation for eventual sale, distribution, and/or consumption.
The barrel, or other type of container, may be made of wood, of which oak is a common element for a variety of alcohol types, or other materials. Certain types of containers may not be completely air tight (whether by design, or by limitation) and a certain amount of liquid may escape, evaporate, leak, or otherwise decrease by volume over time. For example, a wood barrel may absorb a certain amount of the liquid over time, may be constructed of a porous wood that allows for the liquid to evaporate over time, or may include small cracks or openings that allow the liquid to leak out of the container.
During the production of some types of alcohol, maintaining a level of liquid while the liquid is stored in a container is beneficial to producing a certain quality or type of alcohol. In some examples, the amount of air which comes into contact with the liquid is kept to a minimum to prevent bacteria from developing on the surface of the liquid. As the liquid escapes, evaporates, leaks, etc., additional liquid may be added to the container at varying frequencies depending on the particular rate of volume loss over time. Different containers, even of the same type, may be associated with different rates of volume loss, and within a single production facility, there may be a considerable variation in frequency of refilling the containers. In some examples, if the level of the liquid within the barrel is not maintained within a desired range, the quality, taste, and/or value of the alcohol is reduced.
Further, certain issues that may arise during storage of an alcohol in a container may be corrected without permanent degradation to the quality of the alcohol if the correction is timely performed. Many of these issues are detected by chemical measurements and visual inspections performed at discrete times throughout the storage process. The current process of manually performing these measurements and inspections can be time consuming for an individual and may result in delay of correcting issues occurring between the discrete inspection times.